Local Lagniappes - Merryl Brown Events

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FROM LEFT
Dessert
table, sugar
flower and
lace cake by
Sweet &
Saucy Shop,
Long Beach.
BAR NONE
Maison Bouche’s latest:
Marriage a la Mode, $72, a gift
box of nine bars in flavors like
lavender-fleur de sel and
violet—each wrapped with a
jaunty old print from East Bay
chocolatier Diane Beaty’s
collection. maisonbouche.com.
Local Lagniappes
Event planner Merryl Brown of Montecito
likes to stay in the neighborhood with
custom-labeled jars of Santa Barbara
honey wrapped in twine. “Edible gifts won’t
end up in a landfill,” she explains. Other
favor buzz: themed candy tables, minipies
and olive oil. merrylbrownevents.com.
Cracking Tradition While CA produces
nearly 100% of U.S. almond supply, Jordan
almonds are usually imported. Marich
Confectionery, however, crafts the candycoated treat in Hollister. marich.com.
C 74
SPRING WEDDINGS 2011
SUGAR FLOWER: MELODY BRANDON. CAKE: ANNA COSTA, COORDINATED BY JOY PROCTOR. HONEY: MIGUEL FAIRBANKS
W
hether selecting minicakes by S.F.’s Cakework (cakework.com) or a Perfect
Endings classic in Napa (perfectendings.com), there’s no deeper impression
made than by this all-important indulgence. Go French with a cream puff
croque-en-bouche from Emil’s Swiss Pastry in West L.A. (emilsswisspastry.com). Or play
with rustic elegance, like Valerie Confections’ “Fallen Fruit,” Angeleno Valerie Gordon’s
bark-like ripple of buttercream with fresh figs, grapes and pomegranate dropped onto
jam-layered tiers (valerieconfections.com). With fine detailing, Sweet & Saucy Shop
of Long Beach shapes sugar flowers (like this pictured aubergine dahlia), crafts colorful
macaron trees and fashions fondants in towers of lacy white and peach (sweetand
saucyshop.com). The sky’s truly the limit for designer desserts—and for their heights.